STILLWATER, Okla. -- The Arkansas Razorbacks looked like a new baseball team Friday.
Or more like their old selves.
The Razorbacks pounded Grand Canyon 7-1 at O'Brate Stadium in the opening game of the NCAA Stillwater Regional to end a four-game losing streak.
"You know, we hadn't won in a while," University of Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "It's been a couple of weeks, and it's a good feeling, I'll tell you that."
The Razorbacks (39-18) won for the first time since beating Alabama 7-3 on May 19. They advanced to play at 6 tonight against Oklahoma State.
"Well, they're good," Grand Canyon Coach Andy Stankiewicz said of Arkansas regrouping after being 4-8 in its previous 12 games. "When we get into postseason baseball, all coaches will get to the point that whatever's happened prior is over, let's move forward.
"They look like a team with good energy. "
The Razorbacks looked like the team that for most of the season was ranked among the top five in the national polls and started 16-8 in SEC play.
A week off for the Razorbacks after they lost to Florida 7-5 last Friday at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., seemed to do wonders for them mentally and physically.
Getting away from the SEC -- which has nine teams playing in regionals -- probably didn't hurt Arkansas, either.
"We got a few days off, so everybody got well rested," said Arkansas senior catcher Michael Turner, who was 3 for 4 with three runs batted in. "We came out and had some good practices.
"The vibes throughout the locker room have been spectacular. So we're just trying to carry that confidence into the game."
The Razorbacks had nine hits, including two home runs by sophomore third baseman Cayden Wallace, and led 5-0 after two innings.
"It gives me a lot of confidence to go out there and just fill up the zone," said Arkansas senior right-hander Connor Noland, who went seven innings. "You can throw it in there, and a hit or two won't hurt you that much.
"Just flood the zone and really get aggressive and try to put the game away."
Noland (6-4) earned his first victory since April 7 when he went seven innings in the Razorbacks' 8-1 victory at Florida. On Friday, he threw 89 pitches with 55 strikes.
"Really, it started on the mound with Connor," Van Horn said. "Lot of strikes, really mixing well."
The Antelopes (41-20) came into the game with a .309 team batting average.
"Grand Canyon has a really good lineup, especially the top five or six guys," Van Horn said. "Those batting averages are legit, and they'll fight you.
"They're hard to strike out. They swing early and if they get behind, they just protect and make it hard on you.
"Connor did a good job of not letting them frustrate him."
Turner said Noland also did a good job of working ahead in the count.
"Whenever he does that, he's super effective," Turner said.
Grand Canyon scored its only run in the fourth inning on Tayler Aguilar's home run.
"His stuff was moving," Aguilar said of Noland. "He had a lot of movement on his sinker and his fastball. His slider and curveball were really good. He located really well and executed a lot of pitches against us."
Wallace's home run in the first inning on a 95-mph fastball from Antelopes freshman right-hander Daniel Avitia and gave Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
The Razorbacks knocked Avitia -- the Western Athletic Conference pitcher of the year -- out of the game in the second inning when they scored four runs.
Avitia threw 24 pitches in the first inning, then 43 in the second inning and came out after Turner's two-out, two-run single made it 5-0.
The Razorbacks sent nine hitters to the plate in the inning and had runners reach on three hits, two walks and a hit by pitch.
"Amazing inning," Van Horn said. "I thought the hitters did an incredible job of fouling off pitches, working the count. Just getting the pitch count way up.
"Then we came through with a couple of big hits. I mean, we could hit three homers in an inning, and what we did in the second, I'll take that any time. That was big time at-bats."
According to the scoreboard which displays a pitcher's mph, Avitia's fastball velocity dropped from 95 to 91 in the first to second inning.
"He had some good carry on his fastball, so I feel like we did a good job in the dugout of communication after our first at-bats," Turner said. "Just tough at-bats, man. Seven or eight pitches in one at-bat hurts a guy.
"So when he had that long [second] inning, I just think it got to him a little bit.
"He probably hasn't experienced that much this year since he's had such a good season."
Van Horn wasn't interested in talking about getting away from the grind of playing SEC teams in the regional.
"Like I told our team the other day, it's all about us right now," he said. "We don't care about anything else. It's just about us."
NCAA Stillwater Regional
O’Brate Stadium, Stillwater, Okla.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Arkansas 7, Grand Canyon 1
Oklahoma St. 10, Missouri St. 5
TODAY’S GAMES
All times Central
Arkansas vs. Oklahoma State, 6 p.m. (ESPN-Plus)
Grand Canyon vs. Missouri St., noon
Arkansas second baseman Robert Moore (left) tags out Grand Canyon third baseman Juan Colato as he tried to stretch a single into a double Friday during the fifth inning of the Razorbacks’ 7-1 victory over the Antelopes in an NCAA Stillwater Regional game at O’Brate Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. More photos at arkansasonline.com/64gcuua/. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)Gallery: NCAA Regional: Arkansas defeats Grand Canyon 7-1
